Noah Cates impressed in more ways than one as a rookie.

You can probably count on one hand the amount of pleasant developments from the Philadelphia Flyers' 2022-23 season. With a woeful 75 points on the campaign — good for seventh-fewest in the NHL — there just wasn't much for fans to smile about. Two of the Flyers' top players missed the entire season due to injuries, the power play was the worst in the NHL, and the team suffered a 10-game losing streak for the third time in two seasons.

Yeah. Not great.

However, this Flyers season wasn't completely devoid of positivity. Especially considering the emergence of Noah Cates.

In his first full season as a Flyer, Cates not only showed he belonged in the NHL, but proved he could thrive as an esteemed two-way center. And suddenly, the Orange & Black appear to have a legitimate talent to cover the middle of the ice as they embark on their rebuild.

Season In Review

Cates' development into a functional center wasn't initially part of the plan going into the regular season. Cates is a natural winger, and he flourished in that role throughout his tenure at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. But given the Flyers' lack of depth up the middle of the ice, especially after Sean Couturier underwent his second back surgery in less than a year, head coach John Tortorella needed to experiment to fill the void.

Cates' response? He was arguably the best center on the roster this season, and even one of the best players overall. In fact, Travis Konecny even went so far as to compare Cates to Couturier, who's just a few years removed from a Selke Trophy-winning campaign.

Pretty big praise as a rookie.

"It's just really, really impressive what he was able to do," said Konecny during his exit interview.

"I bring him up just because I played with him and I had an opportunity to play, like, half my games with him and just see what he can do, and for him to remind me that much of (Couturier) in his first season is really, really impressive."

The 24-year-old surpassed just about everyone's expectations, logging 38 points in 82 games while learning a totally new position on the fly. He could still use some refinement in the faceoff circle, and he has plenty of room to grow offensively, but there's no doubt his rookie season was anything but a smashing success.

And if you ask Tortorella, it won't be long before Cates becomes a cornerstone player for the Flyers.

"You know how much I feel about him. He's just had a really, really good year and is such an intelligent young player," said Tortorella in March.

"I think if we slot him right, if we get to where we want to be eventually here maybe in a couple years and we slot him right — I think he's gonna have a really big role with this club."

Standout Moment

Cates isn't the type of player to score highlight-reel goals that show up on SportsCenter the next morning. He plays a much more nuanced game that coaches — and particularly Tortorella — adore. Against the Detroit Red Wings on March 5, Cates put together one of his best all-around performances of the season that showed his true value as a legitimate up-and-comer for the Flyers.

In the game's middle period, Cates scored his 10th goal of the season after he redirected a Nick Seeler point shot, giving the Flyers their first lead of the night. And with the Red Wings frantically trying to tie the game late in the third period, Cates made a game-saving play to redirect a Dylan Larkin shot out of play with Carter Hart out of position.

Cates was phenomenal that night, and he was directly responsible for the Flyers earning the victory in regulation.

Bottom Line

Not much about this past Flyers season will be remembered fondly, but Cates' blossoming as an integral building block was far and away one of the best things to come out of what was otherwise a wretched campaign. Cates still has much to learn, and he is by no means a finished product, but at least the Flyers know they have a truly versatile gamer on their hands.

Verdict:

Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and NHL.com.